Qatar study shows Covid-19 vaccines effective against UK, South Africa variants

Doha: A study carried out by investigators and collaborators from Qatar’s healthcare system and research institutes has found that COVID-19 vaccination in Qatar is highly effective at preventing severe illness due to infection from COVID-19 variants from the United Kingdom and South Africa. 

The research study, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the most prestigious medical journal in the world, analyzed a wide range of clinical data from February 1 to March 31, 2021 compiled in the national COVID-19 databases at Hamad Medical Corporation, including vaccination data, antibody and PCR test results, COVID-19 hospitalizations, and infection severity data.  Professor Laith Abu-Raddad, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar of Qatar Foundation, and lead investigator in the research study, explained the significance of the findings.